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ALABAMA 
IN PEANUT 



ADS T M e: NATION 

PRODUCTION 




C.IIIIIH 



Welcome to Alabama 

Hon. THOMAS E. KILBY 
Governor of Alabama 

Alabama offers superior advantages and opportunities 
to the thrifty home-seeker and the investor looking for 
legitimate returns. 

Alabama has caught the literal meaning of the Presi- 
dent's ringing words, "the war is over," and opens wide her 
doors to all classes of people who would engage in the de- 
velopment of our great natural wealth and in all peaceful 
pursuits. 

Moderately priced farming lands, great areas of fertile 
cut-over lands, an unsurpassed climate with an average 
growing season of two hundred to two hundred and twenty- 
five days, perennial streams and ample fuel supply are 
material assets which Alabama can offer to the farmer and 
stock grower of limited means. Alabama farmers are no 
longer mere cotton raisers. They diversify and specialize. 
Alabama leads in acreage and yield of two or more food and 
feed crops of the nation, and is now producing almost half 
as many hogs as Missouri. 

Industrial Alabama has attracted the attention of the 
world — its mines, furnaces, factories and foundries have 
made amazing progress — and today its future is full of 
promise. The great twenty million dollar nitrate plant now 
being erected by the national government at Muscle Shoals 
will prove to be a master industrial achievement. The 
shipbuilding plants at Mobile, and the development of Ala- 
bama's water powers and inexhaustible mineral resources 
offers inducements iof telling force to both capital and 
labor. 

Alabama's citizenship is its most priceless asset. No 
people on the globe are more liberal minded, law-abiding 
and progressive. They extend a genuine Alabama welcome 
to all new citizens and prospective home-seekers. The 
State Immigration Bureau, Montgomery, Alabama, will 
answer all inquiries and mail State literature on request. 

n; «*: :.> 

NOV 28 •' 1919 



■ ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■jimmummmummnummnnnnmnmnummim. 



United States Railroad Administration 

Director General of Railroads 

Foreword 

This booklet is different from any you have ever received, and is sent 
you because you have asked for information regarding Alabama. It is 
issued by the United States Railroad Administration in response to a 
demand for authoritative and accurate information regarding the possi- 
bilities for farming, orcharding and live stock raising in Alabama. 

The matter has been prepared by representatives of all the roads 
under Federal control serving the State. You will note that no particular 
section or county is described in detail, but the State is treated as a whole, 
with only such sectional references as the geographical and climatic con- 
ditions make necessary. 

There are no extravagant phrases in praise of Alabama and its re- 
sources and the opportunities there offered to the newcomer. The pur- 
pose of the book is simply to convey reliable information regarding the 
State, and the plain statements herein regarding its crops, supplemented 
by photographs, all of which have been taken within the State, speak 
for themselves. 

The officers of the United States Railroad Administration and officials 
of the several railroads serving Alabama simply wish to add to what is 
contained in this booklet, that the man seeking a new home can well afford 
to visit Alabama before deciding upon his location. 



Issued by 

UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 

Agricultural Section 

J. L. EDWARDS, Manager 

Washington, D. C. 

FOR FURTHER INRORMATION ADDRESS 



An Appreciation of the South 

By Hon. Franklin K. Lane 

Secretary of the Interior 

^(VVy RECENT trips into the South have convinced 
+/%'%' me that there are wonderful possibilities for 
agricultural development in that section. In many of 
the Southern States there are large areas of the rich- 
est kinds of land suitable for diversified farming, stock 
raising, and fruit growing, which have never been put 
into cultivation. The rainfall is abundant and the 
crop-growing season a long one. I am satisfied 
that most satisfactory location from a standpoint of 
climate, productivity, sanitation and health, and other 
requirements are available in those States for com- 
munity settlements for returning soldiers and sailors, 
as well as for others intending to engage in agricul- 
ture. 

Washington, D. C, February 28, 1919. 



Cheapest Agricultural Lands 

"I am convinced that a very large majority of the re- 
turning soldiers for whom it is planned to make pro- 
vision, could be taken care of in the coastal plain of 
the South. 

I am convinced that here are the cheapest lands 
adaptable to agriculture in the entire country, all 
things considered. * * * In the past two de- 

cades enormous areas of pine forests have been de- 
nuded of their merchantable timber, and these lands 
are now available for clearing and are now ready for 
agricultural uses." — Hon. H. T. Cory, Consulting Engi- 
neer, United States Department of Interior, in charge 
Federal Investigations in the South. 

Savannah, Ga., November 11, 1918. 




'^'tf' ROM PULPIT ROCK, which proudly rears its head 2,000 feet high in the ex- 
4j\ treme northern part of Alabama, to the Southernmost counties, whose shores 
^ are lapped by the blue sparkling waters of the Mexican Gulf, Alabama unrolls 
a panorama before the man desirous of locating in another section that is hard to 
improve upon. 

A Diversified State. 

With its diversity of latitude and altitude, the State produces practically all 
of the products of the temperate and semi-tropical zones. It is one of the few 
States that raises both wheat and cotton, apples and oranges, and all of the agri- 
cultural and horticultural products between these widely-separated extremes. 

Its diversity of grasses is also marked, and ranges from alfalfa in the lime- 
stone soils of the State to the democratic Bermuda grass and lespedeza, which are 
every year gaining greater favor with the stockmen on account of their ability to 
stand heavy and constant grazing. 

The State might be divided into the following rough geographical divisions: 

The Tennessee Valley. 

The Tennesse Valley, extends along the northern boundary of the State 
from east to west and is watered by the Tennessee River, which flows entirely 
across the State. In this valley is to be found almost every conceivable crop in the 
seedsman's catalogue, ranging from wheat to cotton, and from alfalfa and the other 
clovers to velvet beans and soy beans. 

Here are to be found extensive cotton plantations, live stock and general farms, 
truck gardens and nurseries. 



The Mineral Section. 

The Mountain, or Mineral Region, extends from the northeast corner of the 
State and ranges in a southwesterly direction, with the hills diminishing in size 
as they approach the Gulf Coast. Orcharding here has been developed to an ex- 
tremely high degree, live stock raising flourishes, and practically all of the min- 
erals known to industry are found in almost inexhaustible quantities. 



Page Four 



ALABAMA 




Sheep on an Alabama Pasture in February. 

Central Alabama. 

Central Alabama might be said to include a large portion of the cotton-produc- 
ing area of the State, which comprises a large number of old plantations, and up- 
to-date live stock and general farms. 

During 1918, there were 681 cars of cattle and 373 cars of hogs shipped from 
ten counties in Central Alabama and the "Black Soil Belt", which is a decided 
change from the all-cotton system of farming formerly in vogue. 

The Black Soil Belt. 

The "Black Soil Belt" is a portion of Western Alabama that has become na- 
tionally known for the reason that it takes its name from the color of the soil 
in this region, which is almost as black as soils composed of alluvial deposits. 
This is also a section of old plantations which are being converted into extensive 
dairy and beef cattle farms, and immense plantations that were once covered with 
fleecy cotton are now resplendent in alfalfa blooms. 

Many soils in this section are of limestone formation, on which alfalfa and the 
other clovers thrive. 

The Cut-Over Section. 

The Cut-over Section comprises the entire Southern portion of the State that 
was once covered with yellow pine trees, and it is being rapidly and intensively 




Corn with Velvet Beans Coming Up in Middles Making Two Crops on Same Acre. 



ALABAMA 



Page Five 




♦ t 



m ti 




Harvesting Wheat Crop in Northern Alabama. 

developed along every conceivable line of agricultural, live stock and horticultural 
endeavor. 

The soils have proven exceedingly productive, and all of the crops of the tem- 
perate zone and' many indigenous to the sub-tropical zone are being produced 
here in vast quantities. 

Because there is so much more land in this section than there are farmers 
to properly cultivate it, the lands are still to be had at low prices, and upon prac- 
tically any terms of payment that the purchaser wishes to make. 

The Gulf Coast. 

The Gulf Coast section of Alabama, as its name implies, is composed of those 
counties whose shores are washed by the bays that are formed by the outlying 
islands which protect the State from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. 

The soils on the Gulf Coast are not sterile sands, but all have clay subsoils, 
and are suited not only for the trucking industry, which is here developed to an 
exceedingly high degree, but also for all other phases of agricultural, live stock and 
horticultural endeavor. 

It is in this part of the State that the Satsuma Orange has been developed 
to such an astonishing extent in the past five or six years. 

In addition to the carloads of Satsumas that are shipped from the Gulf 
Coast, hundreds of cars of cabbages, Irish and sweet potatoes, watermelons and 
cucumbers are shipped each year. 

In one of the Gulf Coast counties sweet and Irish potato shipments in the 
Summer and Fall of 1918 amounted to a half million dollars, and 15 years ago 




North Alabama Cotton Making Over a Bale to the Acre. 



Page Six 



ALABAMA 




Shorthorn Calves. 

there were but few farmers in the county, as at that time the sawmills were busily- 
engaged in felling pine trees and converting them into lumber. 

Sandy Loam Lands. 

For countless centuries South Alabama has been covered with a tremendous 
wealth of yellow pine trees which remained and continued to grow until the timber 
more accessible to the marts of trade and commerce, had been converted into lum- 
ber. This, of course prevented the development of this section, because no farming 
could be done in the forests. 

After the White Pine of the North had been pretty generally converted into 
lumber, the sawmill men began cutting the yellow pine timber, and have now reach- 
ed such a stage in their milling operations that there are vast areas cut over and 
ready for the settler. These cut-over lands have never been cropped, but for centur- 
ies have been growing up in grasses indigenous to this soil. 

Practically all of these lands are sandy loams, underlaid with a heavy clay 
subsoil at a distance ranging from a few inches to several feet below the surface, 
and numerous demonstrations on a large scale at widely separated sections through- 
out this cut-over land territory have conclusively demonstrated that with intelli- 
gent handling these soils are capable of producing far more than the stiffer and 
heavier soils that are found in Northern states. 

The large land owners, Federal and State Agricultural Agents, and Agricul- 
tural Specialists of the railroads have expended much money toward developing ex- 
act information as to the proper methods of economically producing farm crops in 




One of Alabama's Fine Roads. 



ALABAMA 



Page Seven 




Sheep on Winter Pasture. 

this cut-over section, and there is no need for the newcomer to experiment or take 
chances on any methods of farming. All that it is necessary for him to do is to 
follow the information thus secured and he will be insured success. 

As a concrete illustration of what these cut-over lands are capable, it might 
be mentioned that five years ago peanuts were grown only as a grazing crop, 
and comparatively few cattle were raised although a few were allowed to range wild. 
In 1918 ten counties in Southeast Alabama produced 12,763,000 bushels of pea- 
nuts, valued at $15,208,000, which is 22% of all the peanuts raised in the United 
States, the total crop being 55,597,000 bushels, and 14% of the value of the total 
crop of $95,829,000. 

During 1918, there were 2352 cars of hogs shipped out of seventeen counties 
in South Alabama. Up to 1912 no hogs had been shipped from this section. 

In the cut-over lands tobacco has also been successfully and profitably intro- 
duced, while another section has taken the lead of all the South as an early sweet 
potato district. 

Livestock. 

Alabama for many years has been known as a "Cotton State", because of the 
tremendous crop of this fleecy staple that it produced, but with the modern trend 
everywhere in favor of a permanent agriculture, based upon livestock, the State 
has gone extensively into the raising of cattle and hogs. 

Cotton was formerly the one "money" crop grown, because it will perhaps stand 
more neglect and abuse than any other product grown in the soil and be sure of 







— .SB********- 

— 





Herefords and Hay Thrive Equally Well in Alabama. 



Page Eight 



ALABAMA 




Shorthorns on Alfalfa in January. 

returning a fair yield, and it is the one crop that the planter could permit the ten- 
ant to raise, in perfect security that no matter how badly the plant was treated, it 
would be sure to return him profit. 

Because of the demand for labor in the industries, the Alabama farmer has 
adopted a live stock system of farming, and is finding it exceedingly profitable. 



The Following Table, Showing the Number and Value of Horses and Mules, Cattle 
and Hogs on Farms and Ranges in Alabama Has been Prepared by 
the United States Bureau of Crop Estimates. 

No better description of Alabama's growth along lines of diversification and 
live stock raising could possibly be shown than the following figures. Ordinarily 
statistics are dry, but when the amazing growth in all classes of livestock between 
1910 and 1919 is noted, comment is unnecessary. 



April 15, 1910 

Number Value 

Horses and Mules 382,782 $45,228,501 

Cattle (including milk cows) 932,428 13,409,626 

Hogs 1,266,733 4,356,520 



January 1, 1919 

Number Value 

459,000 $67,473,000 

1,345,000 49,331,000 

2,223,000 37,791,000 




A Bunch of Hereford's. 



ALABAMA 



Page Nine 




Rich Pastures Make Cheap Grains. 



Hogs sold or slaughtered. 



1909 



1918 



Number 

704,000 



Number 

280,000 



Value 

$7,747,000 



Number 

1,405,800 



Cattle sold or slaughtered from the farms. 
1909 1918 



Value 

$4,178,000 



Number 

523,500 



Value 

$33,735,000 



Value 

$16,864,000 



Year 'Round Pastures. 

Enjoying a combination of grasses, like Bermuda, lespedeza and carpet grass 
for Spring, Summer and Fall grazing, and burr clover, crimson clover and vetches 
for Winter, the stockman has grazing the year 'round for his cattle. 

With alfalfa and melilotus, (in certain sections), cowpeas, velvet beans and soy 
beans for hay ; and corn, Japanese Cane and the various sorghums for silage in every 
part of the State, the farmer is never at a loss for something with which to feed 
his herds. 

In addition to the inexhaustible quantity of feed that can be produced on a 
minimum acreage, the open winters do not require any elaborate barns for the 
housing of the cattle during the winter rronths. 

For hogs there are the grazing crops before mentioned, and in addition, rape, 
chufas, cull sweet potatoes and peanuts, all of which are raised at slight cost, and 
harvested by the hogs at no expense whatever. 





All Varieties of Hay Yield Heavily. 



Page Ten 



ALABAMA 




Some Black Soil Belt Duroc Jerseys. 

In Alabama a number of men who were formerly cotton growers, exclusively, 
now ship in cattle from the livestock yards, run them on velvet bean fields, and 
after finishing them on cotton seed meal and corn, send them back to the stock yards, 
where in a number of instances they have topped the market. 

Several years ago when prices were normal the Alabama Experiment Station 
demonstrated that the expense of producing a steer, varied from $4.90 per hun- 
dred weight for one thirty-three months old, to $5.07 for one twelve months of age. 

Top Prices for Hogs. 

Alabama hogs have also enjoyed the distinction of commanding the highest 
prices in the St. Louis stock yards. By reason of the ease with which hogs are 
raised few stock hogs are shipped into the state. The hog raiser counts on getting 
two litters a year, and by reason of the mild seasons he can plan these litters, so 
as to enable him to finish his hogs and market them, and not come in competition 
with the tremendous number of corn-fed hogs that swamp the markets each year 
in the late Fall in the North. 

The Alabama Experiment Station has demonstrated that hogs can be raised 
on peanuts and Alabama pastures, at a less cost than any other known combination 
of feed, having produced them in time of normal prices, for less than two cents. 

During the past several years when certain sections of the country were visited 
by severe and prolonged droughts, the Alabama pastures and even the open range 
were so attractive, that thousands of head of cattle from the drought-stricken area 
were sent into Alabama. 

The open range in the State offers splendid grazing early in the season, and the 
switch cane in the creek bottoms keep the cattle on the open range in fine condition 
throughout the Winter. 




iiiiimj|f;|j!!j; 










A Dairy Herd. 



ALABAMA 



Page Eleven 




Two Acres of this Corn Yielded 400 Bushels in the Tennessee Valley. 

Dairy Conditions Almost Ideal. 

With silage cutting from 12 to 15 tons to the acre; twelve months open pas- 
turage ; with cattle living out-doors all the time ; lumber for feed and milking 
barns to be had at very low prices ; cheap labor for caring for stock ; cotton seed 
meals, the finest concentrate for dairy cows yet discovered, produced right at home ; 
with home mills grinding velvet beans into meal, which with cottonseed meal forms 
a perfectly-balanced ration; with unlimited markets within one night's travel in 
every direction; with transportation facilities for moving products all that could 
be asked — there is nothing that will prevent Alabama from becoming one of the 
leading dairy districts in the Union. 

All Breeds Represented. 

In Alabama can be found breeders of Jersey and Holstein dairy stock, and 
Shorthorn, Red Poll, Aberdeen Angus and Hereford beef cattle. 

Many head of cattle are shipped into the State each year for grazing and are 
finished on the velvet bean fields and corn. A velvet bean field lends itself won- 
derfully well to live stock raising, as the cattle are simply turned into the fields 
after the corn has been picked, and harvest the beans, vines and blades with no 
expense whatever for shocking or handling. 

Ready Markets. 

There are large stock yards in the Central part of the State and these yards 
together with the numerous packing houses and abattoirs offer a ready local mar- 
ket for those who do not care to ship to the big markets. 




A Forty-acre, Bearing Pecan Orchard. 



Page Twelve 



ALABAMA 








Shorthorns Given as Prizes to Corn Club Boys. 

Many towns in Alabama have formed co-operative hog-raising associations, and 
on specified dates, weekly or semi-monthly, have hog sales, to which are attracted 
buyers from many points, who by reason of the tremendous demand for hogs of 
all sorts, furnish a competitive demand for them. 

There are hundreds of thousands of cattle that are never fed a mouthful of 
grain or hay, but simply allowed to run half -wild until they are three or four years 
old upon the open range. 

While maximum results are not secured from this primitive method the fact 
that it is profitable shows the possibilities under efficient management and proper 
care and feeding. 

Change from Cotton to Livestock. 

In that portion of Western Alabama which because of the soil being very dark 
is nationally known as the "Black Soil Belt," many of the farmers who formerly 
raised cotton by the thousands of acres have cut down their acreage in cotton, and 
gone into stock raising, and in this section are to be found all classes of the live 
stock industry, from the feeder to the breeder of registered stock. 

Diversified Breeding. 

In fact, one former cotton farmer has become such an enthusiastic devotee 
of livestock farming that he is successfully and profitably raising on his place 
pure-bred Herefords, Holstein and Jersey cattle and Duroc hogs, and in the few brief 
years he has been engaged in breeding stock has attracted national attention by 
reason of the splendid animals he has been able to produce. 




Sheep Grazing on Alfalfa. 



ALABAMA 



Page Thirteen 




Shorthorn Yearlings. 

Silos are the rule rather than the exception all over this section, and one farm 
has eight concrete silos, each with a capacity of 250 tons, and is planning to erect 
others at convenient points on the thousands of acres embraced in their operation. 

In many districts the farmers have formed dairy associations and shipped in 
grade and pure-bred stock, and while the out-put of the creameries has increased 
at a tremendous rate, they have no difficulty whatever in finding a market for their 
entire product and because of the vast amount of dairy products annually shipped 
into the State the market will always be good. 

Sheep. 

Whether a man runs a few sheep on a small farm or grazes them extensively 
on a large acreage in Alabama, they will be found to pay handsome returns. The 
mild, open winters permit lambing at an early season of the year, with compara- 
tively light mortality, and on the open ranges sheep can always find grazing Sum- 
mer or Winter and plenty of pure, running water. 

The sheep here are not bothered with foot rot, and where ranged on wide 
areas the stomach worm is not prevalent, as it only comes where the sheep are 
pastured too closely. Because of the absence of burrs and underbrush in these 
clean Piney Woods ranges, the wool is always graded very much higher than West- 
ern wool and sells at correspondingly increased prices. 

No one ever thinks of feeding sheep. There are many sheepmen owning from 
500 to 10,000 head of sheep who rarely see them except at clipping time. They are 
given no attention at the lambing period; in fact, the only care given them at all 
is to throw salt on the ranges. 

The dog menace is no greater here than elsewhere, and for the man with a 
large flock who would have a herder accompany his sheep the mortality from dogs 
will amount to practically nothing. 



1 
i 







Shorthorn Calves in the Black Soil Belt. 



Page Fourteen 



ALABAMA 




Part of Alabama's 67,686,000 Bushel Corn Crop in 1918. 

Goats. 

Goats are also a profitable investment, inasmuch as they are given absolutely 
no attention, and from the time they are dropped until they are sold, the billies afford 
all the protection from dogs that is needed. 

There is a good local demand in most all localities for goats, and those who 
might be inclined to sneer at eating goat meat will change their minds as soon as 
they partake of a young kid that has been properly cooked. 

Many of the owners of goats are beginning to cross their flocks with Angora 
bucks, and this gives them a long, silky clip that is very much in demand at at- 
tractive prices, entering as it does into the manufacture of summer clothing for 
both men and women. 

Montgomery Union Stock Yards. 

In July, 1918, the Union Stock Yards at Montgomery opened for business, and 
in the first seven months handled 50,958 head of cattle, which were disposed of for 
over $4,000,000. They also handled 13,731 head of horses and mules in transit. 

While this plant has a daily capacity of 2,500 cattle, 5,000 head of hogs and 
5,000 sheep, there are times when its facilities are taxed. In January, 1919, the 
yards handled 25,804 head of cattle, sheep and hogs, for which the producers re- 
ceived three-quarters of a million dollars. 

The live stock interests are growing rapidly, and plans are already being drawn 
for the enlargement of these yards. 

Corn Growing. 

There is a tradition that the first corn in North America was brought to Cen- 
tral Alabama by a tribe of peace-loving Indians, who had come north from Mexico 




Holstein Calves and Angora Goats. 



ALABAMA 



Page Fifteen 



<x'\t ,A 




An Alabama Corn Field. 

to escape their savage neighbors, and after crossing the Alabama River were so 
impressed with the desirability of the country for a home, that they pitched their 
tents and planted the seed they had brought with them. Whether this be true or 
not is immaterial, but since Alabama began getting away from the one crop of 
cotton, it has demonstrated that corn is indigenous to the State and the production 
has more than doubled in the past decade. 

Practically all of the records for big yields of corn are held in the South, and 
the yield of 237 bushels on a single acre, secured by a member of a Boys' Corn Club 
in Central Alabama, demonstrates the State's possibilities. 

In 1909 the State produced 30,695,737 bushels of corn; in 1916, 47,812,000 
bushels; in 1917, 77,200,000 bushels; and in 1918, 67,686,000 bushels were pro- 
duced. The production more than doubled in nine years. 

The price of corn in Alabama is always the price in the North plus the freight 
rate and brokerage charges, because the demands of the work stock used in the saw- 
mills and other industries are so much greater than the local supply that it is nec- 
essary to import large quantities each year from the North. 

One feature that appeals to the corn raiser here is that the crop can be planted 
any time between March and June and a crop matured. No one thinks of re-plant- 
ing corn because of the failure of the seed to germinate on account of cold weather 
and corn is never frozen before being gathered. 

Tobacco. 

Another crop that has become very popular since diversification has become the 
practice is that of tobacco. 

In 1916 the State produced 60,000 pounds. 




Bright Leaf Tobacco on Cut-over Lands. 



Page Sixteen 



ALABAMA 




Part of Alabama's 820,000 Bales of Cotton Growing Between Pecan Trees. 

In 1917 the production had increased to 146,000 pounds, and in 1918, 700,000 
were reported. 

A representative of one of the development agencies, working with the farm- 
ers, supervised a large acreage of tobacco and kept careful records during 1918, 
and reported an average of 700 pounds per acre, with a gross value of $200.83 per 
acre. Every item of cost that entered into the production of this crop amounted 
to $72.32, leaving an average of $128.51, which is the net profit per acre. 

A great deal of Sumatra and Havana tobacco, used for fillers and wrappers of 
cigars is also grown under shade and sells at very high prices because of the duty 
on the imported tobacco used for cigars. 

Cotton. 

Cotton, which at one time was practically the only money crop of Alabama, con- 
tinues to run into millions of dollars. 

In 1916 the State grew cotton valued at $52,007,000. 

In 1917 the value of the crop was $72,505,000. 

In 1918 it reached $110,700,000 in value. 

The value of the cottonseed for 1918 was $25,155,000. 

There is no county in the State that does not produce cotton in great quan- 
tities. 

While the Northern man who reads this knows nothing of cotton, he will find 
that it is not difficult to raise, and will fit very satisfactorily into any rotation that 
he might adopt. 

A bale of cotton weighs 500 pounds, and the yield runs from a bale to the acre, 
down to 125 pounds, depending upon the quality of the land, and the manner in 
which it is farmed, with an average of 160 pounds to the acre, and for every pound 




Bringing the Cotton to Market. 



ALABAMA 



Page Seventeen 




"• 



:- : v^' 



Gathering Peanuts. 



of lint cotton produced, there is approximately two pounds of seed. Cotton seed 
which used to be considered a nuisance, and years ago required legislation to pre- 
vent it from being dumped into navigable rivers, sell from $30.00 a ton in normal 
times, to $68.00, which is the present price. Cotton has varied in price the past 
few years from twelve to thirty cents. 

There are few farmers in any section who are not familiar with cottonseed meal 
or cake as a stock feed. It has three-fourths as much protein, twice the fat, seven 
times as much ash or lime as corn and oats, and is shipped in trainloads to the 
dairymen and cattle feeders all over the North and Central West, who pay the South- 
ern price plus the freight and brokerage price. Cottonseed is also used extensively as 
soap stock and is manufactured into cooking oils. 

Peanuts. 

One of the developments in Alabama that has seemed almost magical in its 
growth is that of peanuts. 

In 1909 the State produced 1,573,000 bushels; in 1916, 9,000,000 bushels; in 
1917, 13,932,000 bushels were grown; and, in 1918 the crop had grown to 17,480,- 
000 bushels. 

The entire crop of peanuts produced in the United States in 1918 was 55,597,- 
000 bushels, valued at $95,829,000, so that it will be seen that Alabama raised more 
than 31 per cent of the entire American peanut crop, and more than any two other 
States. 

After the peanuts are dug, there are so many left in the ground that the dig- 
ger is unable to get out, that an immense number of hogs are fattened each year 
in the peanut sections, and several large packing houses have been constructed to 
take care of the hogs. 




Irish Potatoes in May in Pecan Orchard. 



Page Eighteen 



ALABAMA 




Sweet Potatoes on Alabama High Lands. 

Potatoes. 

In practically every section of Alabama potatoes do well, and in the southern 
part, they come on the market at such an early period of the year, that they com- 
mand almost fabulous prices. Several sections are beginning to specialize on them, 
and the crop has grown from 1,000,000 bushels in 1909 to 4,800,000 bushels in 1918, 
which had a value of $8,688,000. 

Potatoes form almost an ideal rotation in the farm scheme. In the Southern- 
most counties they are dug and shipped in May, and any other field crop can be ma- 
tured on the same acre after the Irish potatoes have been harvested. 

Sweet Potatoes. 

The growing of sweet potatoes has also developed into an industry of large 
proportions, 5,000,000 bushels having been produced in 1909, 13,500,000 bushels 
in 1917, and 14,688,000 bushels in 1918. 

These sweet potatoes are harvested from June 15th, until December, depend- 
ing on the planting time and the section of the State in which grown, and the prices 
are very profitable. 

Storage houses have been designed that will keep sweet potatoes without rot- 
ting even better than Irish potatoes are kept, and the market prices in the late 
Winter and early Spring months are always very high and the returns satisfactory. 

Sweet potatoes will produce from eighty to three hundred bushels to the acre 
depending upon their care and the season at which they are dug. 

The early crop sweet potatoes are grown from slips, or plants, raised in hot 
beds and forced into early growth by manure and the Alabama sun. When these 
plants have developed a good growth of vines, cuttings can be taken from the vines 
without too severely injuring the yield of the early crop, and these vines, simply 








Sweet Potato Field on Gulf Coast. One of the State's Big Money-Makers. 



ALABAMA 



Page Nineteen 




Augusta Vetch in Early May. After Cutting the Vetch Two Cuttings 
of Johnson Grass Hay Will Be Harvested. 

stuck into the prepared ground with a forked stick, make the late crop of sweet 
potatoes. 

After the early crop is taken off in June, July or August in the southernmost 
counties a crop of peanuts or any one of several varieties of hay can be raised upon 
the same acre. 

Both sweet and Irish potatoes are grown in every county in the State. 

Sugar Cane. 

Sugar cane is one of the numerous crops in which the Southern States have a 
monopoly, and last year Alabama produced 8,195,000 gallons of syrup, valued at 
$7,898,000. 

Sugar cane will run from 150 to 400 gallons of syrup to the acre, and there is 
always an excellent demand for it at profitable prices. 

There were only two counties reported in the State during 1918 that did not 
raise some good, old-fashioned sorghum, and the production was 9,518,000 gallons. 

One of the time-honored customs in Alabama has been the grinding of sugar 
cane into the toothsome "long sweetening." It was one of the very earliest crops 
to be planted in the State, and each year its range of consumption is extending until 
now it is marketed over practically all of the United States. 

It is one of the numerous crops that work into the farm rotation here desirably, 
and not only furnishes a winter's supply of syrup for the family, but very attractive 
money returns as well. 

Hay. 

For many years it has been the custom of the large users of work stock in 
Alabama to import their hay from Northern States, because there was not suffi- 
cient diversified farming in the State to supply the local demands of the farms, to 



1 ML *A 




MA M'& 




Red Clover in the Tennessee Valley. 



Page Twenty 



ALABAMA 




Black Soil Belt Wheat that Threshed Thirty-four Bushels per Acre.. 

say nothing of having a surplus left for animals used in the industries, and for this 
reason hay commands a price that is abnormally high compared with what it brings 
in Northern States. 

The hay production, however, is constantly increasing with the modern trend 
toward rotation and diversification that is spreading everywhere, and where there 
were only 400,000 tons of hay raised in 1916, valued at $5,700,000, in 1917, 1,158,- 
000 tons, valued at $18,760,000 were produced, and in 1918, 1,293,000 tons, valued 
at $26,248,000 was the State's hay crop. 

Wheat. 

Alabama is not generally considered as a wheat-producing section, and yet in 
1918 there were only nine counties in the State that did not produce some. It is 
not planted extensively because there are so many other crops that yield so much 
higher returns and require the use of the ground for a shorter period. 

The crop for 1918 was 1,366,000 bushels. 

Oats. 

Oats are growing more and more into popularity each year in the State, and 
form one of its finest grazing crops. There are few counties in the State where 
it winter-kills, and it is not only threshed, but the practice of cutting it in the dough 
stage and utilizing both the grain and stalk for hay is one that is very favorably 
considered, as it enables the farmer to have a succulent supply of hay for his work 
stock when he begins working them in the Spring. 

In 1918 8,125,000 bushels were threshed, valued at $9,204,000. 




Part of Alabama's 8,000,000 Bushel Crop of Oats in 1918. 



ALABAMA 



Page Twenty-one 



W. 














Velvet Beans — the Great Southern Legume. 



Velvet Beans. 

The Western States have rightly boasted of the wonderful revolution in farm- 
ing brought about by alfalfa. Alabama with equal cause, sings the praises of vel- 
vet beans. 

While alfalfa is universal, at the present time the South has an absolute mo- 
nopoly on velvet beans, and it is doubtful if there is any crop that can give the gen- 
eral all-around satisfaction from every standpoint to the farmer that velvet beans 
do. 

They are usually planted between rows of corn in order that the vines may 
have something to climb on and support the immense crops of beans that are made. 
They are cultivated at the same time the corn is, and after the ear corn is picked the 
usual practice is to open the gates and turn in all the cattle and hogs and let them 
graze the entire Winter upon this corn and bean field. They are one of the heaviest 
known gatherers of nitrogen, and when cattle feed upon the beans and vines this 
nitrogen is put back into the soil with the manure. Tales of wonderful increases 
in yields of corn and other crops are told where the velvet b©£ns had been fed or 
turned under prior to the planting of the crop. / 

They will grow on practically every soil in Alabama, require comparatively lit- 
tle care, and when grazed furnish the maximum of feed for cattle and hogs at ab- 
solutely no expense for handling. 

When the beans are picked and fed it is estimated that two bushels of them will 
take the place of a bushel of corn. The hay has a feeding value almost equal to 
alfalfa. 

Mills are springing up all over the State where these beans are being ground 
into feed, and the few samples that have found their way into the North have 
created a tremendous demand for velvet bean meal. In grinding, the ear corn, 




Digging Irish Potatoes to Be Followed by Corn. 



Page Twenty-two 



ALABAMA 




A Field of Alabama Cowpeas. 

stalk, blades, velvet beans, pods and vines together, a concentrate is secured that 
is endorsed by everyone having to do with the analyses of the value of feeds. 

Where it is desired to turn these velvet bean vines under green because of not 
having stock to harvest them, there is no crop that will turn under the same ton- 
nage of humus and percentage of nitrogen as the velvet bean, and the increased 
yields of all crops raised the following year is very apparent. 

Velvet beans will grow in old land or new land, and if given a convenient tree 
to climb on will grow up 50 feet in the air. It is this phenomenal growth, induced 
by the long growing season, together with high feed value, that makes them such 
a valuable aid to the farmer. 

Two and Three Crops a Year. 

By reason of Alabama's extending so long a distance from north to south, the 
growing season necessarily varies in different parts of the State. 

In North Alabama, after a crop of oats is harvested in the Spring, there is 
ample time to plant cowpeas, soy beans or corn. 

In South Alabama many farmers adopt the custom of planting corn in the mid- 
dles of their Irish potatoes, so that when the potatoes are dug for the market in 
May the digging cultivates the corn for the first time, and the corn can either be 
gathered for silage or have velvet beans planted between the rows, which can 
be pastured by cattle and hogs until corn planting time the following Spring; or 
the corn can be taken off for silage or grain and a light crop of cowpea hay se- 
cured. 

Peanuts, soy beans or velvet beans can be planted easily and safely after Irish 
potatoes. Peanuts, sorghum and millet can be planted after sweet potatoes, and 
make a fine crop of hay. 



* 



m 




Peanuts in Stack. Alabama Raised 31% of the Nation's Crop in 1918. 



ALABAMA 



Page Twenty-three 




Gathering Some of Alabama's Peaches. 

When it comes to estimating the number of vegetable crops that can be taken 
off the same ground in the same year, it is simply a question of the amount of en- 
ergy that one wishes to put into the work. In Southern Alabama radishes can be 
planted in January and shipped in February, and before they are dug another crop 
is planted in the same land, and a succession of radishes, beans, peas, cucumbers, 
cantaloupes and watermelons can all be raised on the same acre, which, in most in- 
stances, is already planted to pecan trees, Satsuma oranges, peaches, plums or 
pears. 

While it is always a good practice to plant velvet beans in the corn which does 
not reduce the corn yield, and because of their extraordinary value as cattle feed 
during all of the Winter, if nothing is planted in the corn middles, a crop of Mexi- 
can clover (pursley) will voluntarily come up in this cultivated ground, which will 
cut from one-half to a ton of hay, and has a food value equal to timothy. 

It is not known why this hay voluntarily comes up, but it will come in all 
fields that have been cultivated for two or more years, and makes a very desirable 
addition to the farm crops, costing as it does, nothing except the cost of cutting and 
curing. 

Pursley should not be considered a pest that cannot be eradicated, because that 
is not the case; and it is very easily and rapidly smothered out by any crop, such 
as rye, oats, cowpeas, peanuts or velvet beans that will shade the ground. 

HORTICULTURE. 

Few States are so richly endowed with horticultural opportunities as Alabama. 
This is especially true in the mountains that enter the State at the northeast cor- 
ner, extending in a southwesterly direction, where the mildness of climate, abund- 
ant rainfall and the fertile soil, which has been enriched for many years with 




Strawberries Being Gathered from Between Orchard Trees. 



Page Twenty-four 



ALABAMA 







Alabama Strawberries — a Vast Industry. 

leaves from the trees, combine to make conditions as nearly ideal for raising apples 
as could be desired. 

The elevation is a reasonable assurance against severe damage by heavy frosts 
and the purity of the atmosphere produces apples of high color and extraordinary 
quality. 

Every farm in these hills has some apples planted upon it, and there are a great 
many commercial orchards that ship their apples in car lots. Much attention has 
been paid in recent years to the proper cultivation, pruning and spraying of the or- 
chards and up-to-date methods of grading and packing them for shipment are the 
rule and the farmers by reason of their proximity to the great consuming centers 
of the country enjoy excellent return from their fruit and this industry is grow- 
ing steadily. 

In 1909, the crop was 888,000 bushels; in 1917, 1,452,000 bushels, and in 1918, 
1,551,000 bushels of apples were produced. 

Peaches. 

Peaches are grown in every county of the State for home use, and there are 
commercial orchards in the hills and also in the central and southern portion of 
the State. 

The southern part of the State produces the earliest peaches in the United 
States, and the price is always high because of the demand. 

More and more trees are being set out each year and the production is steadily 
increasing. In 1909, 1,416,000 bushels were produced, and in 1917, 1,830,000 and 
in 1918, 3,142,000. 

Strawberries. 

Many of the orchardists interplant their peach orchards with strawberries, and 
while waiting for the trees to come into bearing, the yield from the berries usually 




Poultry is Highly Profitable in Alabama. 



ALABAMA 



Page Twenty- five 








One of Alabama's Famous Paper Shell Pecan Orchards. 

pays for the entire cost of the orchard and leaves a profitable balance each year as 
well. 

The berry farms range in area from a few acres to one farm of 200 acres 
which is probably the largest strawberry plantation owned by one man in the 
South. One grower who has kept books against his berry farm each year since 
1909 states that the crop averages him, year in and year out, a return of $300 per 
acre. 

They are shipped in refrigerator cars on very fast schedules, and during the 
height of the season, move in solid train loads and the shipping season lasts longer 
than in most localities, because the berries ripen early in the Southern part of the 
State, and as one section finishes shipping, another, located a little farther north, 
comes in with their crops. Because of their earliness, they always command fancy 
prices. 

Pears. 

Another fruit that is growing into favor is the pear. In 1909, there were 
100,041 bushels produced and 1918, 150,000, and a variety known as the sand pear 
has been developed in the southern counties of the State which is not affected by 
the fire-blight like the Keiffer. 

Pecans. 

Another phase of horticulture that is increasing phenomenally is the growing 
of the thin shell varieties, known as the paper shell pecan. These pecans have 
been carefully improved, by judicious bud selection until they have attained a 
very large size and the shells can be crushed by squeezing two nuts together in the 















™.;*- 



Watermelons are Shipped to the Northern Markets Early. 



Page Twenty-six 



ALABAMA 




A Satsuma Orange Grove, One of Alabama's Newest Industries. 

hand. The best of these pecans will run from thirty to fifty nuts to the pound, and 
they sell from fifty to seventy-five cents wholesale, and the yield from old trees 
runs into the hundreds of pounds. 

While it takes seven or eight years for a budded pecan tree to come into 
bearing, only about a dozen trees are planted to the acre, and the farm is cropped 
as though there were no trees on it until such time as they become large enough 
to interfere with the crops grown between the trees by reason of shading them. 

Satsuma Oranges. 

Ordinarily, Alabama is not considered as being one of the orange-producing 
sections, but in the last few years this industry has assumed very large proportions 
in the Southern counties. The variety planted is the Satsuma, a very early orange 
of delicious flavor that is entirely seedless. It is budded on the stock of a decidu- 
ous hardy orange, and is able to go through a temperature of 15° below freezing 
without being killed. 

Over two million trees have so far been planted in the Southern part of the 
State, and while only comparatively few of the trees have come into bearing, the 
crop is increasing each year, and the Satsumas are selling at highly gratifying 
prices. 

Cantaloupes and honey dew melons are also raised profitably. Grapes are 
grown to some extent for local shipment, and especially choice varieties, like the 
Seedless Sultana, Flaming Tokay, White Muskats and Black Spanish have been 
tried out and found to grow and mature exceptionally well. 

Prunes, kumquats, plums, pomegranates, Japanese persimmons, and, in fact, 
practically all fruits that are known to the horticulturist find congenial soils and 
climatic conditions for their growth in Alabama. 




Truck Farm Equipped with Overhead Irrigation System. 



ALABAMA 



Page Twenty-seven 




There is an Inexhaustible Market for all Poultry Products in Alabama. 

Trucking. 

Trucking is carried on in all parts of the State by farmers who supply local 
markets and have a small surplus for shipping, but in the Southern counties of 
the State it has been developed to a point where it ranks as a separate industry. Cu- 
cumbers and cabbage are the favorite crops, and many hundreds of cars are shipp- 
ed each year. English peas, string beans, cauliflower and radishes are also raised 
to a considerable extent. 

Watermelons are shipped in solid trainloads, with very gratifying results to 
the grower. They ripen early and command fancy prices in the North. 

Poultry. 

There is no section on earth that can be said to have a monopoly upon the 
raising of chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys, but Alabama can unquestionably lay 
claim to be among those most desirably situated for the economical and profitable 
production of poultry. 

The mild climate entails comparatively little expense for the construction of 
poultry houses, which it is never necessary to heat artificially. The brooders can 
also be operated in the Winter time with no other heat than that secured from the 
genial rays of the Southern sun, and there is no week in the year when they can- 
not be provided some form of green grazing in the open upon which the chickens 
can run. There is an abundance of grit and gravel, and no purer water can be 
found. 

No other section can produce more chicken feed to the acre than Alabama, and 
a chicken raiser with a very small acreage can easily and economically raise all 
the feed his flock will require. 




Tobacco and Curing Barn. 



Page Twenty-eight 



ALABAMA 




One of Alabama's Ante Bellum Homes. 

All of the grains grown and sunflowers can be raised for the chicken specialist, 
and Jerusalem wheat-corn, a distinctly Southern product, will probably give him 
more tonnage of concentrated chicken feed than any possible combination of feeds 
he can grow in the North. 

The markets of the State and nearby cities furnish a demand for all poul- 
try products at constantly increasing prices. To the energetic man or woman Ala- 
bama offers an opportunity for the raising of poultry, and those who specialize on 
poultry exclusively and raise their own feed and pastures will find the returns ex- 
ceedingly profitable. 

On the average farm there is enough waste matter to keep a good-sized flock 
of chickens ; in fact, in a tier of counties in the east-central part of the State poul- 
try and eggs as by-products of cotton and grain farms have gradually increased 
until it has developed into an industry that runs into six figures each year. 

Varied Soils. 

The soils of Alabama are as diversified as the crops it produces. Any one seek- 
ing a new location can find within the State exactly what he desires for growing 
any special crop he might wish. He can secure land that for many years has been 
in large cotton plantations that are being cut up into smaller farms. He can get 
limestone lands and heavy black soils upon which clover and alfalfa thrive. He 
can get cut-over lands that have never had a crop of any sort raised upon them 
and require only intelligent management to make them extremely productive. He 
can buy hill lands for a few dollars per acre that will be almost ideal for orchard- 
ing, or he can buy an improved stock farm for $100 to $150 per acre in an inten- 
sively developed section. 




Alabama Alfalfa Which Grows Luxuriantly on the Limestone Soils. 



ALABAMA 



Page Twenty-nine 




&3&C&' 




Soy Beans in Tennessee Valley. 

There are farming or horticultural opportunities in Alabama for every man's 
inclinations and pocketbook, and he can secure practically any sort of terms that 
he might wish. 

Temperature. 

The average temperature of the State as a whole is 63° ; northern Alabama 
61°; central Alabama 64°; southern Alabama 65°. 

The average length of the crop growing season in Northern Alabama is ap- 
proximately 200 days ; Central Alabama 210 to 240 days, and in Southern Alabama 
240 to 260 days. This long growing season is what enables the Alabama farmer 
to raise two and three crops on the same ground in the same season. 

The average number of days during the year with the temperature above 
90° is 62° ; with the temperature below 32 only 35 days. 

Precipitation. 

The annual average rainfall for the State as a whole is 52 inches, although 
in the southern counties bordering on the Gulf it ranges between 60 and 63 inches, 
and in the North-Central and Northeastern portions it ranges between 53 and 57 
inches. The rainfall is well distributed throughout the year, and the Autumns are 
favorable for the maturing and harvesting of the staple crops. 

A Progressive State. 

The State is in step with the progress of development, and rural mail routes and 
telephone lines form a net work through every county, with much interest mani- 
fested in the building of good roads. 




A Field of Hairy Vetch. 



Page Thirty 



ALABAMA 




Alabama has Year 'Round Pastures. 

The population of the State is growing steadily and rapidly. In 1910 the pop- 
ulation was 2,138,093 and the Census Bureau estimate that on January 1, 1919 it 
had increased to 2,410,936, an addition of 272,843 in nine years. 

Principal Cities. 

Montgomery, located in the central part of the State, is the capital of the 
State. 

Birmingham, situated in the mineral district, is the largest city. 

Mobile, on the Mobile River, is the State's port. 

Good Schools. 

The schools will rank with any to be found in rural communities. Opportuni- 
ties for higher education are offered by many splendid colleges and universities that 
are to be found in all sections of the State. Churches of all the denominations are 
well and capably represented and well attended. 

The citizens are warm-hearted, generous and hospitable and stand eager to ex- 
tend the helping hand of fellowship to any one taking up a residence within the 
State's borders. 

Development Agencies. 

Among the agencies that have contributed to the development that has taken 
place in recent years in Alabama should be mentioned the following: 

The Alabama farmers themselves, who, by reason of their intelligent reception 
of the modern methods that have been worked out by scientists, and their eager, 




A North Alabama Wheat Field. 



ALABAMA 



Page Thirty-one 





Alfalfa and Johnson Grass that Will Cut from Five to Seven Tons to the Acre. 

active co-operation have conclusively shown that experiments proven on a small 
scale can be demonstrated on a wide area under actual farming conditions. 

The Alabama Extension Service, which includes Farm Demonstration Agents, 
Home Demonstration Agents and traveling specialists in marketing, dairying, live 
stock, horticulure, crop pests and agricultural engineering ; Boys' Corn, Calf and Pig 
Clubs ; Girls' Poultry and Canning Clubs, and Women's Home Economic Clubs, which 
are concerned especially as to the better feeding and the health of the family and 
the preservation and conservation of all foods. 

The Alabama Experiment Station, with principal farm located at Auburn, and 
several hundred subsidiary field tests in various counties covering the entire State. 

The most important of these local tests consist of experiments to determine 
plant food requirements of corn, cotton, peanuts, sweet potatoes and other crops 
of the State. 

The tests also include a study of the adaptation of all promising forage crops 
to different soils; they are also concerned with testing in various counties to de- 
termine the adaptability of each soil and climate to the pedigreed varieties of 
corn, oats, wheat, cotton, etc., bred up by scientific methods at the main experi- 
ment station. 

The State Department of Agriculture, in its appropriate function of law en- 
forcement and other regulatory work. Especially important in this line is inspec- 
tion of fertilizers and feed stuffs, the administration of which is in the hands of 
the State Department of Agriculture, the analyses work on which it is based being 
made at Auburn. 

The State Department of Agriculture also maintains a Marketing Bureau for 
the farmers' benefit and issues each month the Alabama Markets Journal, the mis- 
sion of which is to help market Alabama products. 




Sumatra Tobacco Growing Under Partial Shade. Used for Cigar Wrappers. 



Page Thirty-two 



ALABAMA 




i 3 




■ ft * 



BIWM* 




A Shorthorn Herd. 

The daily, weekly, agricultural and religious press of the State, which has 
generously disseminated all information relative to the latest methods of profitable 
farming. 

The State Live Stock Association, which developed increased interest and ac- 
tivity in all forms of live stock raising. 

The State Board of Horticulture, which has to deal with the prevention of the 
spread of insect pests and plant diseases, and which is ever-watchful to see that no 
diseased nursery stock is permitted to be shipped into the State, and, by proper 
inspection, insures the maintenance of healthful conditions in all of the nurseries 
of the State. 

The State Horticultural Society, which is aggressively behind every latest de- 
velopment pertaining to fruit growing. 

Teaching of agriculture in the schools, including not only the State A. & M. 
College, but also in ten district agricultural high schools, a number of high schools 
and in many of the public schools. 

The Live Stock Sanitary Board, which is concerned with the prevention of di- 
seases among cattle. 

The work of the Agricultural Agents connected with the various railroads op- 
erating in the State has also contributed to a considerable extent toward the de- 
velopment and prosperity of Alabama. 

The Agricultural Agents of the railroads have been carefully selected with 
reference to their knowledge of agricultural and horticultural conditions, both in 
the North and the South. They are required to devote their entire time to visit- 
ing the farmer, advising and encouraging him to raise maximum yields of the 
crops best adapted to his particular locality. 




'The Grandson" Grand Champion Boar, International Live Stock Exposition, 1912. 



ALABAMA 



Page Thirty-three 




A Chert Road in the Alabama Hills. 



Special Aid for Newcomers. 

While all farmers are counselled with impartiality, the railroad Agricultural 
Agents are charged especially to seek out all new arrivals from other sections, and 
in addition to advising them specifically as to the proper crops and methods to in- 
sure them success in the particular locality in which they have settled, also put them 
in touch with the other development agencies in the county, district and State, 
so that shortly after his arrival the newcomer is in position to know exactly where 
to go for any specific authoritative information he may desire upon any subject 
pertaining to his work. 

After the new arrival has made his crop or raised his live stock, these men 
acquaint him with the best markets and most direct transportation routes. 

Should he raise truck crops or fruits, these gentlemen advise him regarding 
methods of selecting, grading and packing fruits or vegetables ; instruct him how 
to properly load them in the cars so as to get the maximum tonnage in the car 
without any possible deterioration in the product while en route. 

For the perishable products, such as peaches, strawberries, radishes, etc., the 
railroads furnish refrigerator cars, and their Agricultural Agents advise the ship- 
per regarding the proper amount of ice to put in the bunkers and at what stations 
en route the cars should be re-iced in order that the products might arrive in good 
condition at their destination. 

Railroad Agricultural Agents also co-operate with all the other development 
agencies in the State in every line of agricultural, horticultural or live stock en- 
deavor, and, by reason of their familiarity with crops and conditions at various 
points along the lines of railway, they are enabled to bring exact and definite in- 
formation to growers who contemplate specializing upon some particular commod- 
ity that has not been grown in their locality before. 





An Old Cotton Plantation Now Devoted to Alfalfa and Live Stock. 



Page Thirty-four 



ALABAMA 




A Bunch of These Are On Every Farm. 

All of these various development agencies are at the disposal of the farmer 
at all times and at no expense to him whatever. It is doubtful if any State in 
the Union is organized any more highly for assisting the newcomer than Alabama. 
The newcomer may settle here in perfect security that a certain crop will do 
well in a certain locality, be advised as to the correct methods to use in causing 
it to give maximum results, the best manner of caring for his perishables and stor- 
ing crops can all be answered intelligently and at once by some of the numerous 
agencies which have given the farmer and his problems practical and sympathetic 
study. 

Climate As An Aid to the Farmer. 

The Alabama farmer has an abundance of time to plant, mature and gather 
any crop he desires. As a matter of experiment, a farmer in South Alabama has 
been known to grow two crops of silage corn on the same acre in the same year, 
although, naturally, such method is not following the best farm practice. 

Alabama's climate, aside from the pleasure that one derives in not having to 
suffer from extremes of heat or cold, actually means a considerable sum to him 
each year. The heavy clothing and overcoats, mittens and fur caps necessary in 
the North are unknown here. Neither is it necessary to feed work stock, cattle and 
hogs as much as in the North, because there is no necessity for them to consume 
food to keep up their animal heat. 

He is also saved the expense of building and maintaining expensive cold-proof 
barns in which the cattle may winter. In Alabama thousands of cattle spend the 
entire Winter on the open range, without any shelter whatever except the canopy 
of heaven, and are not fed a mouthful except what they manage to pick up for 




Peaches Come Into Profitable Bearing in Three Years. 



ALABAMA 



Page Thirty-five 




Sumatra Tobacco Under Partial Shade. 

themselves, and the visitor in the Spring is always surprised at their good flesh. 
The cattle feeder who supplements the pasturage he has with other feeds finds 
his cattle not only go through the Winter without loss, but with an actual gain. 

Aside from the mere money value of climate, there is a superlative satisfac- 
tion in being able to work outdoors practically every day in the year in one's shirt 
sleeves and to always go without an overcoat. It is a common sight in South Ala- 
bama in January and February to see children in the country districts, and even 
in the towns and cities, romping in their bare legs with no discomfort whatever. 

Where it is so delightful in the Winter the stranger naturally assumes that 
it must be much hotter in the summer than in the North, but such is not the case. 
No one ever saw a horse in Alabama with a sponge on its head to keep it cool in 
Summer. Sunstrokes are unknown, and while the thermometer gets up in the 90's, 
it has only gotten over the 100 mark a very few times in the 30 or 40 years the 
Weather Bureau has kept records in the State. 

On the days when the temperature is in the nineties the nights are uni- 
formly cool. It is frequently necessary, even in the Southernmost counties of the 
State, to use a blanket for cover at night. 

During all of the Summer months there are frequent showers that are cooling 
and refreshing, and the breeze that has been cooled from coming across thousands 
of miles of salt water is always present, and an occasional rest in the shade of a 
tree will enable any farmer to do as big a days work in the middle of Summer cul- 
tivating his crop or putting his hay into the top of his barn as he was ever able 
to do in the North. 

As will be noticed from the temperature and rainfall records, there is ample 
moisture for the growing of any crop, and it should be borne in mind that the 




Cotton and Corn Side by Side in the Black Soil Belt. 



Page Thirty-six 



ALABAMA 




A Battery of Silos — Capacity 250 Tons Each. 

heavy rains of the winter months can be stored in the clay subsoils and utilized by 
the crops growing in the early spring. 

Well Merited Recognition. 

When the War Department was called upon to train millions of men at army 
camps, there was no difference of opinion whatever as to where the majority of these 
camps should be located, and the South by reason of its climate and sanitation, was 
immediately selected as the location for practically all of the camps and canton- 
ments. 

Its mild climate permitted the boys to be given intensive training during both 
the Summer and Winter months, and the millions of relatives who visited Southern 
towns near which camps were located in either Summer or Winter carried home 
with them nothing but praise for the wonderful climate which they found in the 
South. 

Alabama was signally honored in the location of Camp McClellan at Anniston, 
where the War Department purchased outright many thousands of acres of land 
and utilized it for intensive and extensive training of artillery units. 

At Montgomery there was established Camp Sheridan, where both infantry and 
artillery were trained. Taylor Field, where the army aviators were trained, and 
Wright's Field Aviation Repair Depot No. 3 were also established at Montgomery. 

It would be impossible to have anything more authoritative as to the health, 
sanitation and climate of Alabama than the action of the War Department in lo- 
cating camps here, and the wonderful health records enjoyed by the Alabama camps 
will always remain a lasting tribute to its climatic advantages. 




Registered Jersey Herd. 



ALABAMA 



Page Thirty-seven 





~^r 



One of Alabama's Modern Meat Packing Houses. 



The same conditions that actuated the War Department officials in selecting 
Alabama for their army camps hold equally true with respect to any farmer de- 
sirous of changing his location. 

Why Land Prices Are Low. 

When one realizes that the field crop production of Alabama during 1918, ex- 
clusive of livestock, is very close to half a billion dollars, it is difficult to realize 
that a State producing such a volume of agricultural wealth can still be said to con- 
tain productive lands that can be purchased at low prices and on easy terms. 

The explanation of this is very simple when the local conditions are under- 
stood. For many years, and in some instances generations, the lands in the north- 
ern and central portions of the State have been operated as extensive cotton plan- 
tations almost exclusively. These plantations have been handed down from father 
to son, and have increased in area with each generation. 

Under the present economic conditions labor has been attracted to the cities 
by reason of the large daily wages which they receive being more enticing than 
an annual settlement from their share of the cotton crop, and it has become neces- 
sary for the owners of these plantations to divide their extensive farms into small 
places of forty and eighty acres and upwards and to dispose of them upon favor- 
able terms. 

These plantation owners have more land than they can possibly hope to culti- 
vate under present labor conditions, and the result is there are innumerable oppor- 
tunities in the farming line of which the energetic man can take advantage. 

The lumberman having cut his timber is also unable to farm the cut-over 
lands, and so he offers them at low prices and favorable terms. 





Threshing Five Bushels Oats per Minute. 



Page Thirty-eight 



ALABAMA 




Baby Beef on Alfalfa Pasture in February. 

Many Settlements of Northerners. 

In many parts of Alabama there are colonies of Northern and Western people 
who have settled together because of sharing the same religious beliefs or racial 
blood. 

Feed Mills. 

While velvet beans are most economically harvested by allowing cattle and hogs 
to range through the fields, where they consume practically 100% of the entire 
crop, the demand on the part of dairymen and cattle feeders for a concentrate has 
caused many mills to be established throughout the State, where the ear corn, 
stalks, blades and the velvet beans, vines, pods and stems are all ground together, 
making practically a perfectly-balanced ration. 

The demand for this concentrate is much greater than it has so far been pos- 
sible to supply, and the raising of velvet beans for grinding into meal gives prom- 
ise of becoming an industry of almost as great economic wealth as the cottonseed 
industry has already proven to Alabama. 

The City Man On An Alabama Farm. 

Whether or not the city man can succeed on the farm without previous ex- 
perience is a question frequently asked. As far as Alabama is concerned, there is 
no question whatever about his being able to succeed. 

The modern farmer is not the rustic "Rube" pictured on the stage who rises 
at dawn and finishes the evening chores by lantern light. In this age of efficiency 
the farmer who, by adopting modern methods and machinery, gets a maximum of 
efficient labor from his employees and raises products where the margin between 
the cost of production and sale is sufficient to show him a profit is the man who 
will succeed on the farm. While labor is cheaper in the South than in other sec- 
tions, the man who gets most for his labor is the one who provides it with modern 
machinery that increases the productive capacity of the man. 



ALABAMA 



Page Thirty-nine 




Feed Mills Afford Cash Market for Velvet Bean and Grain Crops. 



Some old farmers continue to show some hesitancy to adopt modern methods. 
Having been educated in the school of hard work, they are more or less of the 
opinion that long hours and back-breaking manual labor make for success on the 
farm. 

The city man, on the other hand, is an eager student, and not having farmed 
before, will adopt the methods and advice which is so freely offered him, and if 
he does not permit his enthusiasm to induce him to extend his operations beyond 
his financial ability to care for them, he is reasonably sure of success. 

The city man, therefore, need have no fear in coming to Alabama to farm or 
to engage in fruit raising. If he will diligently follow the advice of the various de- 
velopment agencies and adopt the methods of the successful farmer in the commun- 
ity where he has settled, diversify and rotate his crops and arrange his farming 
system so as to have money coming in at different periods of the year, nature will 
cheerfully co-operate with him, and there is no reason for his becoming a failure. 

There are a very large number of city men now successfully farming in Ala- 
bama who had never put a collar on a horse or turned over a furrow until they 
did it on their Alabama farm, and whether they were carpenters, mechanics, clerks 
or professional men, those who work as intelligently on their farms as they had in 
their former occupations have prospered to such an extent that nothing could induce 
them to return to the city work in which they were formerly engaged. 

Come and See Alabama. 

The wonderful opportunities that Alabama offers can be best appreciated by 
a personal inspection of the conditions as they exist: that is all the Agricultural 
Section of the United States Railroad Administration asks. "Come and see Ala- 
bama" and you will be convinced. 



Agricultural Opportunities In Alabama 

By DR. CHARLES C. THACH, 
President Alabama Polytechnic Institution 

Alabama offers the glad hand to any one who desires to make a good live- 
lihood from the land. Really, the story of the possibilities of farming in Ala- 
bama is so good that I am afraid to tell it! The climate temperate, rain-fall 
about fifty inches per year, health conditions excellent, arable land plentiful, 
schools and churches better every year, in highway construction among the 
leading States in the Union, railway centers for distribution abundant — all the 
elements that go to make farm life profitable and pleasant! 

Practically every variety of farm products can be raised with profit in 
the State. In three staple crops Alabama leads the Union, namely — sweet po- 
tatoes, peanuts, and velvet beans. The cotton crop is about a million bales a 
year; corn about seventy million bushels; oats about eight million bushels. 

In the Tennessee Valley the best grasses and clovers flourish. In the hilly 
sections of the State, the finest varieties of apples can be grown. In the west- 
ern section truck-gardening flourishes. In many counties grape growing is 
highly successful; while citrus fruit culture throughout the entire Gulf coast 
section is one of the most remarkable fruit developments of recent years. 

By actual demonstration pork can be produced as cheaply as in any part 
of the United States. In the western prairie section of the State where alfalfa 
and all grasses can be grown with the greatest profit, cattle can also be raised 
as cheaply as in any other section. Cattle can be cared for out-of-doors the 
whole year round. Tick eradication has been made effective by a State-wide 
law, and each week records a tremendous increase in high-grade cattle for beef 
and dairy purposes. Owing to the out-door life, there is less tuberculosis than 
in any section of the Union. Mr. Rommell, Chief United States Department 
of Animal Husbandry, says cattle raising in Alabama is of national interest. 

Although the average value of land has increased at least five dollars an 
acre in a year, there are available good lands at a cheaper rate than anywhere 
in the Nation. A farmer in the Northwest by selling his land might re-invest 
in three times the number of acres of equally good land in Alabama — in a 
word, he can farm in Alabama with much less capital than in the more con- 
gested sections of the Nation. 

These are a few of the good things that Alabama offers to all good Ameri- 
can citizens who wish to make their homes with us. They are yours for the 
coming. 



ALABAMA 

Alabama contains 32,818,560 acres, of which 20,732,- 
312 are in farms. 

Alabama ranks eighteenth in population and twenty- 
seventh in land area. 

Alabama is the second State in the Union in point 
of cheap and accessible cut-over lands for general farm- 
ing. 

Alabama produced more than a half billion dollars 
worth of farm crops in 1918. 

Alabama stands first in the list of States in the pro- 
duction of peanuts, velvet beans, and sweet potatoes. 

Alabama grows a great variety of food and feed 
crops — corn, hay, peas, peanuts, velvet beans, soy beans, 
sugar cane, sorghum, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, al- 
falfa, clovers, and every variety of vegetables and fruits 
known to the Temperate Zone. 

Alabama is the home of the pecan nut and the acreage 
to this orchard crop is rapidly increasing. 

Alabama produces nearly half as many hogs as Mis- 
souri, the great live stock State of the West. 

Alabama is destined to become one of the leading 
live stock States of the Union. Already it is making 
rapid strides along this line. The best blood lines of 
cattle and hogs are in evidence throughout the State. 

Alabama has a wonderful diversity of soils, which re- 
spond readily to the demands of intensive farming. The 
United States Bureau of Soils has completed the soil 
surveys of 55 of the 68 counties in the State. 

Alabama has an equable climate and is free from 
long drouths. The State is never visited by general crop 
failures. 

Alabama has an average growing season of two hun- 
dred days in the northern counties; two hundred and ten 
days in the central section, and two hundred and forty to 
two hundred and sixty days in the southern part. The 
average rainfall for the State is fifty-one inches, and the 
average temperature is sixty-three degrees. 

Alabama is all American and is loyal to the slogan, 
"Made in America'', but naturally we like it better when 
we can point with pride to some product and say it was 
"Made in Alabama." The invitation is cordially extended 
to the prospective home-seeker, farmer, manufacturer, 
professional man, and to all parties looking for legitimate 
investment to come to our State. As a great producing 
commonwealth Alabama is indeed the open door to your 
opportunity. 

By M. C. ALLGOOD 

Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries 



OFFICIAL MAI' OF ALABAMA. ISSl F.l> BY DEPARTMENT nh VGRIClil-TURE, 19I9.—M. C. Allgood. Commissiom-r. 



Length of Crop Growing Season indicated by black lines 




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